The Birth of A Volleyball Legend

Even though it was still a bit early to say, the momentum had shifted already toward Matsuyama Kita High, and the rest of the set would be difficult for Tsunemori High. It wasn't any ordinary person who thought so, but Daiki Sato, who was in the commentary box, who said that. Listening to the bold prediction from the old man, the broadcaster next to him couldn't help but feel surprised and asked, "Why don't you think so, Sato-sensei? Don't you think that Tsunemori High still has a chance here?"

"Oh, of course, this old man knows that!" Sato shrugged nonchalantly. "However, for anyone who has been following high school volleyball tournaments for so long, they would know one unique characteristic that Matsuyama Kita High developed under my old friend, Saburo-kun, and that is once they get the momentum, they are almost unstoppable. That is why only Konan High could match their intensity. They are a bunch of hot-blooded guys, ready to spill their opponent's blood." The old man shook his head amusedly.

As the man finished speaking, some of the people who still had enough concentration to listen while also watching the game had a sweat drop on their face, realizing that Sato just called the old man from Matsuyama Kita High 'Saburo-kun'. There weren't a lot of people who dared to call Matsuyama Kita High's head coach by his first name and the prefix 'kun' as if they were old friends and were still alive right now, which showed how old Daiki Sato was.

Still, everyone could recognize the truth behind Sato's words. They all knew that Matsuyama Kita was a team that was good at riding the momentum, and once they got that, they would never give a chance for their opponent to breathe. Now, everything depended on Tsunemori High, on whether they could snatch it back before it was too late or not.

"Come on, Tsunemori High! Don't give up!"

"Hell, yeah! This is still just the beginning! Don't worry about the score!"

"Just keep going!"

Even though the entire building was dominated with the colors purple and yellow, a small section on the stand that was dominated with green forest color still stepped up bravely, shouting their encouragement to their team. Seeing this, all the players on the court also smiled, realizing that they were not alone here.

"Come on! They are right! This is still the beginning, and it is too early for us to give up yet! Let's continue to fight!"

"Yosh!"

The game continued once again, and the one who served the ball was still Matsuyama Kita High's player with the jersey number 8, Kyogo. The boy had this blonde-painted hair that was slightly different than Riku's. This should be his fifth serve in a row by now, and all the Tsunemori players were determined to stop him on this chance.

"Asa-senpai, move back a little. Give me some space to react." Riku suddenly whispered with a low voice, not even looking at the person he was talking to, so that he wouldn't alarm the opponent.

"You?!" Asahi was taken aback. Then, he let out a deep, relieved sigh at the realization. "Oh, well, if it is you, everything will be okay…"

This relief feeling that came from the captain was genuine. After all, he became Kyogo's biggest target in the last couple of sequences, as the opponent kept finding him. Hell, even when Kaede wanted to protect him, Kyogo still found a way to aim the ball at Asahi, and his serve was tricky enough that Tsunemori's captain always struggled to save.

It was a bit ironic to see that the captain was weak in defense, considering that usually, a team's captain should be the second-best defensive player besides the libero, and that was to reassure all of his teammates that they had a strong guardian behind them. However, Asahi didn't care about it. Even though he had been the team's captain for about six months or so, the boy recognized that the true leader in this team was always Yuki and Riku, the duo who always led the team, whether in calm or storm. They were far more qualified to be the leader compared to him, and unlike the former senior members, Asahi didn't have a problem giving the limelight to those two boys.

'Well, they led us to the win, so why would I complain about that?'

After waiting for a while, the referee finally blew the whistle, and Kyogo threw the ball high into the sky before slamming it hard to the other side of the court. Just like before, the serve had so much spin in it that the ball fell sharply to the front line, the spot where Asahi stood. However, this time, the captain stepped back a little, and Riku moved quickly to get the ball first.

BAM!

"Oh, nice save, Riku!"

"Wait, the one who receives the first ball is the setter?"

"Shit!" Out of all the Matsuyama Kita players there, Amagi was the first one who react. Not only did the setter remember how Riku and Yuki gained their reputation as the devil duo, but he also could remember clearly the beginning of the duo, which was in the friendly game against Matsuyama Kita, too. He didn't want to let those two wreak havoc in their own area, just like it was in the past. "Nakatani-kun, don't move! Keep your eyes on the blonde, the ball would go there again!" He shouted.

Honestly, that was a good call from Amagi, since most of the time, whenever Riku received the ball, Yuki would send it back to the blonde boy immediately. However, that only happened until a few weeks ago. Amagi's information was out of date here, since he didn't know that the duo had already become a trio, as the new addition to the group was lurking in the shadows. When everyone had their focus on Riku, he sneaked from the blind spot, jumping to the place where no one guarded it. When the ball finally came his way, the boy grinned widely, slamming it straight without anyone able to stop it.

'Okay, shit! I got this!'

BAM!